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2008 has seen complex debates over formulas to reduce greenhouse gases. Nationally, the so-called “Climate Security Act”, thought to be a watershed moment for global warming, failed in Congress, but in the Northeast, a greenhouse gas agreement known as RGGI is on the way. We’ll look at the winners and losers in the climate change debate this year, and why one initiative passed and one didn’t.

Guests

• Elizabeth Williamson, reporter for the Wall Street Journal, who covers lobbying and regulation in Washington, D.C.
• Jeff Young, Washington correspondent for the NPR's Living On Earth

More than four thousand American soldiers have been killed and tens of thousands injured since the U.S.- led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Another number gets far less notice - the 4.7 million Iraqis who’ve fled their homes. Millions remain displaced inside Iraq, while miliions more have spread-out to neighboring states.

That refugee population has overwhelmed authorities in some host countries and created significant brain drain in Iraq. Many educated Iraqis have already left the country. Among those are four guys who just want to rock. Together they form a band called Acrassicauda, drawing the name from the Latin term for a black scorpion native to the Iraqi desert. As far as anyone can tell, Acrassicauda is Iraq's only heavy metal band, and its survival is the subject of a documentary that’s won-over the festival circuit. It's called Heavy Metal in Baghdad and the DVD hits stores today. We talked with one of the films directors, Eddy Moretti.